Output capacitor upgrade: sound character

Rory · 575

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Offline Rory

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on: December 13, 2019, 07:39:31 AM
Hi fellow bottleheaders,

I've had my Crack+Speedball up and running for a year or so. I've rolled tubes and settled on Svetlana winged C and Golden Lion ECC82. I've been awed by the sound every time I listen but there was a slight attenuation of bass so I swapped out the output capacitors for (surprisingly expensive) Mundorf M-Caps. It has definitely improved the bass but somehow I don't enjoy the sound as much. It's not that the treble or midrange is necessarily any different - just that the balance is different, and it feels less "open" and crisp than before. Anyone experienced similar?



Offline DrewTube

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Reply #1 on: December 13, 2019, 08:58:17 AM
How much break-in time do the new caps have?  High-end caps usually take dozens to hundreds of hours of use to actually sound like they should.



Offline Rory

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Reply #2 on: December 13, 2019, 09:13:07 AM
Aha. 90 minutes. I need to be more patient.



Offline DrewTube

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Reply #3 on: December 13, 2019, 09:23:43 AM
Take a gander at this old thread of mine: https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?topic=486



Offline Rory

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Reply #4 on: December 14, 2019, 03:19:55 AM
Very helpful, thanks.